A NUMBER of potentially significant difficulties last night remained to be resolved in the talks between Government officials and trade union leaders on a deal covering public sector pay and reform.
Among the potential problem areas were reform plans in the health sector such as the introduction of provisions to roster staff on any five out of seven days, which would remove premium payments at weekends.
Sources close to the talks also maintained that as of yesterday evening there had been no agreement on redeployment of staff within the civil and public service and that a discussion on outsourcing of work was continuing.
As of last night the Government had not tabled proposals on public sector pay. Any deal is likely to centre around a trade-off of staff co-operation for widespread transformation in the public service in return for receiving back, over time, some of the money lost in the pay cuts introduced by the Government in recent months.
One union, the Civil Public and Services Union, representing lower-paid civil servants, is seeking this money to be returned by the end of the year. However, last night other unions maintained that this would not be attainable.
The CPSU has warned of full-scale strikes in the Passport Office from as early as this week and escalated industrial action across the Civil Service if no deal is reached.
Last night senior union figures said that as a first step they would be seeking guarantees of no further pay cuts as well as a process for getting money back – what is being described in the talks as “a route to the loot”.
Senior union sources said this may not involve the setting of specific dates for securing the restoration of original pay rates but rather timescales for reviewing the level of savings being delivered by the reform programme.
The unions are looking for a structure which would see the low-paid having quicker access to any reversal of pay cuts. It is understood that the Government will be seeking a so-called “get-out-of-jail card” under which its commitments would be reviewed in the event of any sudden shock to the economy.
Government sources said yesterday that they were “half hopeful” a deal could be reached. Any deal is likely to involve the establishment of verification measures to ensure the reforms are being delivered on the ground and to assess that savings are being secured.
Over the last week the unions and Government officials have been examining proposed reforms in health, education, local authorities and the Civil Service.
As part of the reform proposals the Government has been seeking greater flexibility and freedom to redeploy staff in the Civil Service. The Government has also proposed a review of “family-friendly” working arrangements.
In education, the Government is looking for teachers to work one hour extra per week, while in health, the HSE is looking for greater provision to redeploy staff and a longer core day from 8am to 8pm, and five-over-seven-day rostering.
However Siptu, the country’s largest union, has difficulties with rostering and the outsourcing of work.